Vol. 6 Episode 11

The new Mumford and Sons single is out there now. It is called Believe.

There will be a new split EP from Dott and Night School released for Record Store Day.

There is a remix for the Family Force 5 song Let It Be Love on iTunes but probably on other download sites too.

You can listen to the new Death Cab For Cutie album on NPRs First Listen now.

You can also listen to the new Runaway Brother album on AV Club.

Here we go with an all Surfer Blood episode...

Surfer Blood – I Can’t Explain

This is the second official single from the upcoming album, 1000 Palms. I say official because technically the tour split that the group did before the album was talked about has a song from the album, NW Passage. It was released on the tenth of March. I found out a bit late but still got a copy from the record company. It is a 7” single cut at 45 RPMs. The single was pressed on olive and bone white vinyl. It is also limited and hand numbered out of 1000. I got number 124. The single comes with a download as well. I got an email from Joyful Noise Records with a download because I ordered the single with them. I also got a download card that came with the record. I am actually happy that I got the email because I got to hear the music before I got the record in the mail. That’s about five days of listening before I actually got the record.

Obviously the first track from the record is the song I Can’t Explain. The song is pretty mellow, as has been the case with the last single. I kind of get the feeling that the new album is not going to be as great as the last one was. I have heard a few tracks now from the new album and they have not been the fun poppy indie tracks that I liked from their sophomore album. I get the feeling that they are going to mostly be mellow and sort of depressing.

The B side of the single is called Death And The Maiden. I think that this song has a good catchy chorus and a great beat overall. I really like the chord progression in the verse a lot too but the cadence of the vocals in the verse is not quite as fun. It seems like a lot of square pegs in square holes. Where is the octagon pegs and the pentagon pegs? It is still a great song though. There is even a circus bridge in the song that is so much fun and completely unexpected.

Both are good songs but the B side takes it for me.

 

Surfer Blood – Demon Dance

This is the first and only single released from the album of the same name. It was released for Record Store Day 2013. I actually tried to get a copy on Record Store Day 2013 but my local record store, Down In The Valley in Golden Valley MN, did not get a copy in for the special event. It wasn’t until two years later that I actually got a copy of the single. It is a tri colored vinyl pressing in white clear blue and dark blue. The picture doesn’t do it justice. It is housed in a clear plastic sleeve though to show off the colors. There were quite a few pressed, 4700 to be exact.

I talked about the song, Demon Dance, in Vol. 4 Episode 23. I had this to say about the single, “The song starts out with a nice clean electric guitar sound and a soaring high pitched distorted guitar sound. The organ sound kicks in at the start of the first chorus and sounds great floating in the background. I was very surprised when at the second half of the song after the breakdown there was an addition of screaming/growling that sort of works for the song. It is a new facet to the groups’ bag of tricks that I like.”

The B side to the single is called Slow Six. It also comes from the album Demon Dance. As the title leads me to believe it is a slower song. What I do like about the song is the distorted guitar long notes that get bent and seem to soar over all of the other music that is happening in the track. It reminds me of a distorted red laser that is somehow able to be bent in an arc over the top of the group. My imagination, I know. The song has a pretty sweet burn to it over all too. I like the addition of the piano to the track as well. It gives it a nice grounded feel contrasted to the soaring distorted guitar part.

I am glad that I finally got a copy of this single. I know that I already have a copy of the songs on the single but the record itself is so pretty.

Surfer Blood – Swim

This is the first single from Surfer Blood. It was put out in 2010. The first single from the album Astro Coast, put out on For Us Records. Originally released as a 7” only on limited clear vinyl and white vinyl, there was a promo CD put out too. You can get Swim, The A side, as a download but I haven’t seen the B side available as a download anywhere common. There were only 300 copies of the clear edition and I haven’t seen a count on the white version or the standard black. The CD promo version only has the album version and the radio edit for Swim. I really like the art work on the cover for this single as it pulls from the cover of the first Joy Division cover and changes it just a bit, making wave peaks in the lines. It is really a genius change to a classic graphic.

Swim is the A side of the 7”. The vocals use a lot of echo making it seem, to me, like the vocalist is the swimmers coach and he is yelling over what ever body of water the swimmer is swimming in. The music in the song is actually kind of fun. It is like the new surf music style. I am not sure if that is an actual movement in music but that is what it reminds me of.

The B side is a remix of the song done by Allen Blickle. This remix puts the vocals back in the mix some and pushes the distorted bass line up in the front. I am not sure that I like this so much. It is kind of an assault on my ears. The bass is turned up more than it should be I think. I guess if the bass were not so upfront I would like this remix a bit more. It is a good version of the song overall though.

 

Surfer Blood – Floating Vibes

This is the second single released from the album Astro Coast. It was also released in 2010. It was released on white vinyl. It was officially the first single rleased through Kanine Records. The first single from the album was released on For Us Records. This was also the first single to follow the art style that the full length album used. This art style is also being used on their third album which represents a return to their roots.

The A side, Floating Vibes, has nothing to do with vibes. It has a great beat in the drums and a great rhythm in the guitars. I really like the pretty melody that is used not only in the guitar but also with the vocals. The song talks about surfing a lot but that doesn’t matter as much as the great music that is happening in the song. It is one of my favorites from the album Astro Coast.

The B side track is called Twin Peaks (Allen Blickle Remix). It is obviously a remix of the track Twin Peaks. I like the addition of electronic drums and the cutting bass line change. It gives the song a more sterile approach. I also like the addition of synth keys in the song. It is not really a dramatic change it just cleans up the messy edges of the song.

I have heard a few of Allen Blickle’s remixes for the group and like what he has done with the songs.

That is all for now...